Little Havana
Little Havana '''is a neighborhood in south Miami. Home to many Cuban immigrant residents, Little Havana is noted as a center of social, cultural, and political activity in Miami. It is undoubtedly the best known neighborhood for Cuban exiles in the world. Tucked between the art deco and modern high rises is a slice of Cuba. Plaster and brick sleep on the street, squat one-story buildings slathered with salmon hues, stark yellows, sky blues, or chalky, tired off-whites from painted-on 'repair' jobs. This patch of Miami is vibrant with culture, bright storefronts, murals and music, a regular king of tourist traps, fruiterias and 25-cent cafecitos for the visiting crowd. Spanish street signs and storefronts advertise from beneath scalloped tile roofing that bakes in the heat amidst a sizzle of the scents of sugar cane and cigar makers. Large, shop front windows overlook cracked and pockmarked asphalt from behind the white iron bars that stand vigil against nighttime 'visitors'. Characterized by a robust street life, excellent restaurants, music and other cultural activities, mom and pop enterprises, political passion, and apparent warmth amongst its residents, Little Havana is a sight to see, yes. A place to live, no. For all that Little Havana is by day, the people possess a natural guardedness of those who cannot afford safe neighborhoods. Along Tamiami trail to the west, the cheerful yellows and sky blues decorating the buildings accent the drone of brownstone shop fronts and houses. The asphalt of the streets and sidewalks sizzle under the sun and sprawl into a mix of single-family homes and low-rise apartments. By night, the locale endures break-ins and vandalism. By day, the community is quiet, if a little tense. Recently, this area has begun to enjoy some of the benefits of the real estate development going on throughout the city, the promising skeletons of new condominiums preening themselves for their upcoming stucco siding. Geography Little Havana is commonly considered to be bounded by Douglas Road/West 37th Avenue to the west, I-95 near Calle Ocho (SW 8th Street) between SW 11th and 4th Streets to the east, the east side of Miami River up to the South Fork of Miami River/Dolphin Expressway to the north, and on the south by SW 11th Street from I-95 to the east to SW 12th Avenue. Demographics As of the 2000 Census, Little Havana had a population of 49,206 residents, with 19,341 households, and 11,266 families residing in the neighborhood. The median household income was $15,213.16. The ethnic makeup of the neighborhood was 85.08% Hispanic or Latino of any race (mainly Cubans, but also many Nicaraguans and Hondurans, as well as other Latinos), 3.79% Black or African American (not including Afro-Cubans, Afro-Nicaraguans, Afro-Hondurans, and other Afro-Latinos), 10.14% Non-Hispanic White, and 0.96% Other races. Crime Relatively safe by day, aside from regular muggings of oblivious tourists, Little Havana continues to suffer from serious criminal activity at night. '''Crime Rate: High. Police Presence The Miami Police Department maintain a station in Little Havana. By day, their presence can be seen, making sure the ubiquitous tourists seeking an 'authentic' experience do not get themselves into too much trouble, but by night, police presence is not nearly enough to make the neighborhood safe. Police Presence: Very Minor. Sabbat Info The Praetorians pack is known to claim Little Havana as it territory. Cainites who know how and where to spot and read Sabbat graffiti tags can quickly discover the following: 1) Imagery of a sword at a 45 degree angle, blade down. It means "Pack". 2) A tic-tac-toe game with the Xes winning diagonally, like the movement range of a Bishop in a game of chess. It means that a Sabbat Bishop is involved here somehow. Buildings and Businesses of Note Landmarks A tourist draw, Little Havana is known for its landmarks, including Calle Ocho (SW 8th Street/Tamiami Trail), and its Walk of Fame (for famous artists and Latin personalities, including Celia Cruz, Willy Chirino, and Gloria Estefan), the Cuban Memorial Boulevard, Plaza de la Cubanidad, Domino Park, the Tower Theater, Jose Marti Park, the Firestone/Walgreens Building, St. John Bosco Catholic Church, Municipio de Santiago de Cuba and others. The Pink Elephant The Pink Elephant is a bar in the Little Havana neighborhood. A faux-classy eyesore of black wallpaper and baseboards, the windows are bedecked in hot pink curtains where the sloe gin decants. The furniture is all black painted wood, except for the cherry oak bar, which stretches long across the far wall and whose surface is sticky with years worth of spilled liquor and poorly applied varnish. Cluttered about the stage hugging the low, wide windows is a smattering of high topped tables that comfortably seat two and barely squeeze in four. Booths pepper the walls with seats that creak and squeak from old upholstery. Every Friday night the bar rumbles from the crooning of live entertainment, their notes crammed into the terrible acoustics to be had in this hole in the wall. Ceiling-mounted lampshades with tacky dangling tassels offer cozy dim pools of smoke-laced light, milky grey like an opium den. Botanica Viejo Lazaro Botanica Viejo Lazaro is a small occult shop crammed to the gills with all sorts of odds and ends. Fluorescent lights in broad strokes dot the patchy white insulated tile ceiling and hum at the scuffed beige tile. The walls are tan and striped with horizontal siding. From floor to ceiling (literally, as figurines, strings of beads, sculpture, and ornamentations hang from the creases in the tile) is a hurricane of wares from the mundane to the bizarre. It smells faintly in here of sawdust, kibble, and animal. On further investigation, it's because the rear wall hosts a line of stacked cages with cats, chickens, turtles and lizards. The smell is overpowered, however, by the perfumes, musks, and scents of incenses, herbs, candles, waxes, and oils. Balancing on pegs nailed into the wall are more things upon things upon things: beads, figurines, candle holders, varicolored lengths of cloth, bells, rings, and strangely even boomerangs. The cashier waits behind a glass-topped counter which itself is full of odds and ends organized in little boxes in the name of last-minute decision and keeping slightly more coveted wares from careless hands. There is an aisle dedicated to candles and candles only: single-colored white drip-candles, glass-encased candles with paintings and etchings of the Saints and religious imagery, and candles with intentions inscribed upon them: LOVE, PROTECTION, MONEY, LUCK. Opposite of that is a portfolio of scented spirit oils taking up half a shelf from top to bottom, the other half dedicated to figurines and incense holders. Lou's Pawn Shop A cramped building, littered with shelves that contain a variety of small items such as CDs, boom boxes, laptop and desktop computer parts, and sundry other items in ordered chaos: while it seems things are stacked at random, there is a system to the clutter. Glass display cases which house the more expensive items such as jewelry, coins and medals, handguns, and high tech electronics are positioned close to the walls with the cashier's cage positioned so the proprietor can see the front door everyone else within the store. Hanging on the walls behind the display cases can be seen musical instruments such as guitars, framed posters and other art, and a rack of rifles and shotguns of various vintages. Behind the cashier's cage counter are the office and employee lounge. Signs and visible security cameras abound. Sociedad Augustus An exclusive society house, casual visitors will not get past the antechamber. The antechamber room itself is a half circle- the curve bisected by a very imposing door marked 'Private'. It does not appear to have a standard lock or knob, rather there is a keypad sitting about chest level on the frame of the door. The curved walls from the door and back are lined with bookshelves and the books within cover almost any mundane subject one could wish to enjoy. Fiction and non-fiction both. The back wall has the entrance to the outside. The entryway itself is a heavy steel door with an equally heavy solid-oak facade. It screams of opulence. Throughout the room comfortable looking chairs are situated around low glass tables. All in all the room has a certain feel of great comfort. Gregor's Tattoo Salon Sitting on the corner of a dirty intersection, Gregor's gets the cross-section of light from having windows on both sides. The entrance is situated strangely, having two steps up to the door on the outside, but then several steps down once through the door; the door also being perched on a corner. However, once inside, the brick interior and high ceilings give it a very daunting, iconic appearance. There are a few long display cases of jewelry, and the walls are covered in hanging binders of tattoos. A section closer to the back has chairs for tattooing, a couple of TV displays, and a sound system. One door leads to a back room, presumably for 'sensitive' piercings and tattoos, while another door appears to lead up a flight of stairs. Category:Setting Category:Miami Category:South Miami